Mindy Kaling's Rom-Com and Romance Reading List

For readers who like a heroine with some darkness in her. Kaling loves the lead and wondered aloud why it hasn't been filmed.

Her first true favourite, read at school. She identified with Lily Bart, and she said so again in an EW book quiz.

Kaling says it completely changed her life. She reads each new Lahiri book as soon as it comes out, which is a fair endorsement.

Named in her TODAY interview, with no comment on why.

The outlier: a Stephen King time-travel thriller on a list otherwise rich in romance and literary fiction. She chose it in her TODAY interview, with no comment on why.

Short and direct. Kaling says it would make readers less nervous about calling themselves feminists.

Kaling's childhood favourite, read to her by her father. She values its emphasis on brains over looks.